Jeremiah 37

Saturday, February 15, 2020 | Pastor Kevin

The prophet takes a step back into time to give us more insight into his current situation. When Zedekiah is made "puppet-king" by Nebuchadnezzar, the prophet could move freely within the walls of Jerusalem and supposedly throughout the land occupied by the nation of Judah. When he tries to leave Jerusalem to claim some family land in the region of Benjamin, he is immediately thrown in jail and accused of trying to defect to Babylon. Jeremiah has no defense, because people do not like his message and have little problem with him sitting in jail The king seems to understand that this prophet has a direct line to Yahweh and even asks him to pray for the country He eventually moves Jeremiah to a more comfortable setting and makes sure he receives bread from the vendors in Jerusalem until the city is destroyed. I love the fact that Jeremiah never strays from God's message. He stays faithful to the call that God has placed upon his life. Admittingly, it would have been easier to cave to the pressures of his culture, but Jeremiah never did. He preached the truth to the people whether they listened or not. He sets an incredible example for us to follow in the modern church. Our culture rejects most of what God says or severely abuses His Word to live like they want to live. God, however, has called His people to stand on His unchanging truth no matter what the culture says. We cannot water down the message or forget the ultimate goal of revival breaking out in this country and radically transforming the hearts and minds of its inhabitants. God can do that; therefore, we must continue the fight even when it seems ineffective. Do not give up, my friend. God has a purpose for your ministry and a plan to do something incredible in our land.

Help me, Lord, to stay the course even when it seems I am swimming upstream against this culture. Help me to stay faithful to Your Word and Your way of life no matter the response or the persecution it may produce.